Register now: 2011 Bradley Symposium

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

In an age of increasing cultural diversity at home and of increasing globalization abroad, questions are being agitated about what it means today to be an American. How, in fact, do we identify ourselves, both as individuals and as a people? What do we look up to and revere? To what larger community and ideals are we attached and devoted? For what are we willing to fight and to sacrifice?

A new anthology, What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song, edited by Amy A. Kass, Leon R. Kass, and Diana Schaub, speaks directly to these questions. Using the soul-shaping possibilities of American short stories, political speeches, and songs, it addresses issues of national identity, the American character, the virtues and aspirations of civic life, and the problem of making a national one out of the multicultural many. The chapter devoted to the last subject contains a moving speech by Theodore Roosevelt, which powerfully argues that all new immigrants must be assimilated into the idea and practice of “True Americanism.” This symposium will revisit Theodore Roosevelt’s speech and the issues it raises. What, if anything, defines “True Americanism” today? Why and for what purposes does it matter?

The 2011 Bradley Symposium, hosted by Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal and National Affairs, will feature a discussion among prominent political figures and scholars, led by Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Amy Kass and AEI Madden-Jewett Scholar Leon Kass.